Monday, March 10, 2014

Olaudah Equiano on the Middle Passage

On the basis of Equiano's account, what measures did the crews of slave ships take to ensure maximum profits from their business of transporting human cargoes?

The enslaved passengers traveled below decks in hideously cramped quarters. The ships had given the slaves enough room to sit but not stand and some were forced to lie in chains on small shelves. The crew of the slave ships had fit a lot of slaves into one ship in order to maximize their profit for business. The conditions on the ship were horrific and the crew member took the initiative to save lives, to gain profit, by forcing them to eat and had pitched the sick out in the ocean before they infect the others slaves and waste limited supplies of food.

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